For the first time since the Winx had graduated from Alfea, Faragonda felt hopeful for the future. Before her desk stood an unassuming redheaded girl with a tall blonde fixed to her right side. They were flanked on either side by a nature fairy and a water fairy. To the far left stood a girl with music blasting from the earbuds she had dangling over her shoulder. Rounding out the lineup on the other end was a pale girl invested in whatever was on the screen of her phone.
Finally, they had returned.
"Uh, Headmistress?" the redhead asked, shattering the old woman's delusion. "Did you call us in here for something or…"
Faragonda sighed at the unwelcome reminder. The freckled fairy rubbed her arm nervously as she waited for an answer.
"Jane, I have gathered you all here today because I believe you are the only ones who can go on this mission," Faragonda said, pleased with the heavy ring of authority that carried with her voice. One hundred-plus years of leading the school will do that. "A favor fairy, a purity fairy, a savant fairy, an amulet fairy, a dark fairy, and an essence fairy all in one club. It is obvious that you are the best club for the job."
The girls stared at her, wide-eyed and naïve. The headmistress preened at the idea of being able to mold them into greatness.
"I call BS."
It took Faragonda a second to pick her jaw up off the floor before she responded to the tech-savvy fairy, "I beg your pardon."
"I said I call BS," the purple-haired teen reiterated. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "First of all, we aren't a club; we were just assigned the same dorm. Second of all, we literally haven't taken a single class yet, so there is no way we're, like, the most qualified group of fairies for the job. And lastly, you definitely didn't choose us for our 'diverse magical abilities,' of that I'm positive."
Faragonda did not like her use of sarcastic air-quotes.
"Let's be honest: you chose us because we're the daughters of the Winx Club."
Now that really stunned the headmistress into silence.
"Delta!" the tall blonde chided under her breath, but the tech fairy only sent her a withering look.
"What? We all know it's true," Delta argued. Turning back to Faragonda, Delta said, "The only thing I don't get is why so soon. Couldn't you at least wait for us to unpack?"
Faragonda glared at the mouthy girl, but Delta didn't shrink away. The headmistress turned away from the girls to look out her large window where the noonday sun was shining brightly, coming into sharp contrast with the icy feeling that was biting into her bones.
"Uh, Ms. F?" Jane said tentatively. "Delta didn't mean it."
"Yes, I did."
"Shut up!" another girl hissed.
"Make me."
Their bickering drew her back to the present. Turning back to the six girls before her, Faragonda opened a drawer in her desk and stared at the golden box that lay within. A pang of guilt wormed its way into her mind, whispering a familiar tune: 'Stop sending children to die for you.' The perpetual chill that had been in the air for the past two months, however, urged her onward and pushed the guilt away to the corner of her mind that kept her awake at night. She pulled the box from the drawer.
The blonde gasped.
"The Agador Box."
"Right you are, Miss Sylvia," Faragonda said with a smile, and Sylvie smiled back. "You seem to be a tad bit more studious than your mother was in her time here."
Sylvie's smile faded in the slightest and Faragonda trudged forward as she opened the box to reveal six beautiful sets of small golden wings.
"Those are Enchantix wings," Sylvie stated a little less enthusiastically than before.
"Correct again, Miss Sylvia," Faragonda said. "Furthermore, these are your mothers' wings."
Reaching into the box, the headmistress pulled out the pair of wings that were set with blue stones.
"Bloom, Fairy of the Dragon Flame," she announced as she handed it to Jane.
In her freckled hand, it transformed into a different pair of wings with no jewels. The bottom of one of the wings looked tattered.
"Did I break it?" Jane asked worriedly.
"No, dear," Faragonda said with a sad smile. "These are your Enchantix wings."
"What's wrong with them?"
"You'll learn soon enough," she answered cautiously, reaching in for the next set of wings. Her fingers settled around a pair of wings with red and yellow stones.
"Stella, Fairy of the Shining Sun," Faragonda announced as she placed the gold wings in Sylvie's suntanned palm.
Sylvie watched in amazement as the angelic wings turned upward and outward into crescent moons. The bright stones were replaced with shimmery sapphires and moonstones.
"Aisha, Fairy of Waves."
She handed Aisha's daughter a pair of rounded, green-stoned, gold wings. In her dark hand, they became sharper, with pointed edges and blood-red stones.
"Flora, Fairy of Nature."
Flora's daughter gently took the wings in her tan hand, watching as the pink and green gems morphed into yellow and white diamonds and as the gold frame rounded out like flower petals.
"Musa, Fairy of Music."
Faragonda handed Musa's daughter the golden wings and watched as the square edges became curled and the magenta stones turned into a pale lilac.
"And lastly, Tecna, the Fairy of Technology."
Delta took the wings in her pale hands. The sharp lines of her mother's wings fanned out and the purple gems turned green.
"These are your keys to the Hall of Enchantments," Faragonda said as she turned to a floor-length mirror on the wall. "Hold up your keys."
Tentatively, the six girls held up their golden Enchantix wings and watched as the mirror disappeared to reveal a staircase leading down into the school.
"Woah," Sylvie mouthed.
Faragonda led them through the mirror down a golden staircase to a large foyer beneath the school. In the center was a larger-than-life circular bookshelf with two hallways on either side. Along the walls were paintings and documents in frames.
"Headmistress, where are we?" Jane asked.
"This is the Hall of Enchantments. Very few people know of its existence- people like your mothers," Faragonda explained. "That is why you all are the only ones I can trust with this, girls. The Magic Dimension is in danger."
"What kind of danger?" Jane asked, staring in awe at the high-vaulted ceiling above her.
Again, the nagging guilt surged to the surface but it was quickly replaced by the dread of the dark something that had entered the Magic Dimension. A dark something that Faragonda knew from experience wouldn't go down without a fight. She pulled a thick tome off one of the shelves.
"This is the Book of Fairies, which contains every fairy transformation."
"Isn't that number infinite?" Delta asked.
"That it is. And this book, like many others in this hall, is also infinite," Faragonda explained. She flipped to a page that she knew all too well. "This is Charmix, a power-up to the Magic Winx transformation that is only granted after a fairy overcomes her insecurities and discovers her true self. Alfea fairies earn this in their second year. Now, over on this page is the Enchantix transformation. This transformation must be earned through a sacrifice for someone of a fairy's home planet. Alfea fairies earn this transformation in their third year."
"Why are you telling us all this, Headmistress?" the spring fairy asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. Her green eyes were flicking around the rooming with a light air, not fully understanding the weight of the situation.
"Well, Miss Acacia-"
"It's Ace."
"Pardon?"
"Sorry, it's just that… I'm called Ace," she clarified. She was smiling widely, but Faragonda grimaced at the girl's attitude.
"Yes, well, Miss… Ace. I have big plans for you girls. In order for you to fulfill your true potential, I need you to earn your Charmix by the end of the week and your Enchantix by the end of the school year."
The girls gaped at her.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly," Aisha's daughter said, nervously wringing her fingers. "You want us to have earned all three fairy transformations by the end of the year?"
With a sigh, Faragonda turned away from them again and braced herself on the bookshelf. With every second, it grew more and more difficult to push away the cold and the dark.
"I know that I'm asking a lot of you, Marissa. But I wouldn't ask if I wasn't sure you could do it."
"But you aren't sure!"
Faragonda jumped at the outburst and turned around, but Marissa wasn't finished. She began pacing and biting at her nails.
"You have no idea what we are and aren't capable of! You could be dooming us for failure for all you know!"
"Miss Marissa-"
"No, she's right," Delta chimed in, supporting her anxious dormmate. "I won't do it."
"Excuse me?"
The other girls held their breath as the headmistress and her pupil stared each other down. Even Marissa stopped her worrying, if only for a moment.
"I won't join your child army to fight whatever danger you think is threatening the Magic Dimension."
"The universe is in danger."
"I don't care," Delta said, enunciating each word. "I'm a teenager. It's not my job to fight evil."
"It is, if you want to pass the school year."
Again, everyone in the room was holding their breaths. Faragonda took the opportunity to rally her troops.
"I know the notion sounds scary, girls, but you wouldn't be alone. Every fairy at Alfea is in a club dedicated to protecting the Magic Dimension from evil. As a proponent of light magic, you should be using your talents for good. Here at Alfea, we will teach you how to harness your abilities and save the world."
"Do the other fairies have to earn their Enchantix by the end of the year?" Musa's daughter coolly asked, turning her music down to match the atmosphere of the conversation.
"No, but the other fairies aren't the Winx Club."
"News flash: neither are we," she said with a roll of her eyes.
Faragonda gave her a pitiful smile and said, "Miss Piper, I know you are insecure in your abilities and afraid of living up to your mother's legacy, but I believe you are capable of everything the Winx Club was and even more."
"But we don't want to be the Winx Club," Piper protested and the other girls tentatively nodded in agreement.
Faragonda reached for another book on the shelf. This one was thin with a spiral spine. She opened it to see her own handwriting.
"What is this? Why are all these names crossed out?" Jane asked.
"This is the Census of Covens, a record of every coven in the Magic Dimension and their relics. After the Trix Act was passed by your mothers, every group of thirteen witches was required to register with the Magix Council."
"Wait, isn't the Magix Council… also our moms?" Ace asked, overly glossy lips pursing into a grimace..
"Well," Faragonda answered warily, "the council consists of proxies that represent the Winx's authority as members of the Company of Light while the Winx govern their own nations."
"So… our moms," Piper deadpanned, bringing the conversation in a circle.
Faragonda sighed in a world-weary way, but she charged ahead anyway. "Girls, this is a serious issue. A dark evil is coming to power in the Magic Dimension. Every Enchantix fairy can sense it as well as every wizard at a level 3 or higher. Even witches can feel the darkness and they grow excited."
"Why are these crossed out?" Jane asked again, more urgently.
"Every coven has a sacred object around which their power is based, called a relic. Even the Trix had the Vacuums. Now, however, I fear having too many magical objects scattered across the Magic Dimension in this time of such darkness. Moreover, I fear the covens becoming emboldened by this evil to rise against the Company of Light using their sacred relics."
"What do you expect us to do about it?"
"For the past five years, I have been sending fairy clubs on missions to retrieve these relics from around the world to be stored in the Hall of Relics. These missions count as important points towards your final grade. I have a mission for you six. There are relics that have so far been out of our reach, relics that would do better here in the safety of Alfea then out in the world in the hands of witches. I need you to retrieve them."
"Isn't this all stealing?" Marissa asked.
"As the Winx Club, it is your duty to defend the Magic Dimension against whatever should stand against it."
"For the last time, we are not the Winx Club," Piper said.
Faragonda slammed her hands on the table before her. "Whether you like it or not, you are."
A stiff silence fell over the group.
"At the end of the next week, I will be sending you on a mission to earn your Charmix. Until then, you will spend your seventh period every day in a special Witch Studies class with Professor Mirta. Here, take this."
She conjured a scroll and handed it to Jane. Unfurling it revealed sketches of a crystal ball, a spellbook, and cauldron.
"Wait, hold on. We have to earn our Charmix in a week and a half?" Marissa began to worry.
Before they could get into another tizzy, Faragonda brushed over the topic and explained, "You will likely find these objects at Cloud Tower in the dorm room of the Sisterhood of the Lamplight, a group of sophomore witches whose names are on that census. Cloud Tower's classes started today, so you have roughly two hours before they return to their dorm. Your assigned Red Fountain hero team is waiting for you girls in the courtyard."
"Hold on, hold on, hold on," Jane said, waving her arms to slow her down. "We're going on a mission right now? We barely know how to fight."
"Think of this as your first test run. Good luck, Winx."
Faragonda snapped her fingers and they disappeared in a cloud of sparkles.